NEW research has shown 80% of people in Yorkshire and Humberside carry less cash than they did five years ago.

And retailers in Huddersfield admit plastic is taking over.

According to the Visa survey, the main reasons people carry fewer notes in their wallets is the convenience of using debit and credit cards plus the security benefits.

More than half the people surveyed also stated that using payment cards instead of cash makes it easier to track their spending.

Colin Grannell, managing director of Visa UK, said: "Cardholders are clearly more at ease than ever before with payment cards and are using them in a much wider range of places.

"As consumers become more and more security conscious, it makes sense to carry less cash and rely more heavily on payment cards."

David Whittle, managing director of department store Peter's of Huddersfield, backed the findings of the survey - and said he has witnessed the plastic revolution first hand.

"The other day, when I asked a member of staff to fetch the day's cash takings, she replied that there weren't any! Every customer that had come through our doors that day had paid by a credit or debit card," he said.